Choices
by Kimberly Warner
Summary: Dana Scully has her baby and Fox Mulder is returned, but what will the consequences be? Note: Revised from an earlier version. This is a work in progress, please R&R :)
1. Default Chapter

Title: Choices- Part 1  
  
Author: Kimberly Warner  
  
E-Mail: KimbearlySue@aol.com  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Category: MSR  
  
Spoilers: Requiem, All Things, and anything in Season 8 is fair game.  
  
Summary: Scully has her baby and Mulder is returned to her, but what will the consequences be?   
  
Notes: I am yet another fic write who named Scully's baby Samantha. Perhaps I will change it in the future, but this is the baby's name, so don't complain! Please R&R- I really love feedback :)  
  
Disclaimer: All characters et. al. belong to Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. I am merely borrowing them for the time being.  
  
  
  
Choices  
  
"Mom...I don't think he's ever coming back to me..." A very pregnant, very distraught Dana Scully sobbed into the phone.  
  
"Dana?" Her mother asked, wondering why her daughter would suddenly call like this. It was so unlike her to be anything but the strong, willful woman Maggie was used to. "Why, Dana, what are you talking about? Of course Fox will come back...you'll find him. What brought this on?"   
  
Except for the somewhat subdued sound of crying, there was momentary silence on the end of the line. "It's been almost six months. Six months and all we've found are blind leads and dead ends...and no Mulder. I thought we would have found something by now. And I'm going to have this baby any day now...it's just hard. I wanted him here...I need him here...I miss him."  
  
Maggie Scully hurt for her daughter more than anyone and knew how alone she must feel; it wasn't fair that Dana had to suffer like this, but deep inside she silently agreed that Fox was never going to be returned. "Dana, please believe me...everything will be ok. One way or another things will work out. You don't have to go through this alone. I'll be with you no matter what." She hoped her assurances would help calm her daughter.   
  
"Oh Mom," Scully sucked in a breath, trying to control her tears, "I'd give anything to have him back...*anything*. I never thought I'd say that...but I've felt so...hopeless lately. There's nothing I can do. I've done so much trying to find him and it just hasn't been enough."   
  
*At least she'll have this baby, even if she doesn't have Fox*, Maggie thought. Instead of saying that she said, "I know you love him very much...Fox would be so proud to know you've worked so hard looking for him."   
  
Suddenly, Maggie heard her daughter gasp and the sound of something crashing to the floor.   
  
"Dana?! Oh my God, Dana? What happened? Are you alright?! Dana?" Her heart leapt out of her chest in fear.   
  
"Mom?" Scully suddenly returned to the phone, her voice sounding pained."Oh, Mom...you need to get over here...now," she said urgently, "I just...I'm going to have the baby."   
  
"Oh my God, I'll be right there...don't worry honey...everything's okay."  
  
Maggie hung up in such a hurry and Scully was so distracted by her labor pains that neither woman noticed the sound of a third phone hanging up in the background.   
  
  
***********************  
  
  
Twenty hours and twelve minutes later, Dana Scully lay in a hospital bed holding her newborn baby daughter, Samantha Margaret Scully. Her mom sat near the bed, and on the nightstand there were already several bouquets of flowers, some of which were from Assistant Director Skinner and the Lone Gunmen. Despite her earlier sadness, Scully's face radiated contentment as she looked down at her new daughter. It was a look of pure love and an amazement at the miracle that she now held in her arms. Nothing could have prepared her for the wonderful feelings she was experiencing.  
  
Samantha was pure perfection in her mother's eyes. Ten fingers, ten toes...two perfect, tiny feet and two adorable hands. Her pink and wrinkly newborn skin was like silk to Scully's touch; in her eyes this had to be the most beautiful baby in the world. There had been moments during her pregnancy when Scully had worried whether or not this baby would be...normal. She had secretly feared that her baby wouldn't be quite entirely human. After all, she had thought that she could never have children, and even after numerous confirmations, she had still found it hard to believe. There had to be some catch, something to make this little miracle not quite what she seemed to be, but as Scully looked into her daughter's face, all her previous fears were assuaged. Samantha was a beautiful miracle.  
  
"She's...perfect," Scully whispered, as if not to disturb the serenity of the moment. *If only Mulder was here...* tiny tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.  
  
Her mom smiled softly and reached out to gently brush the baby's downy red hair with the tips of her fingers. "She's beautiful. She looks just like you did when you were a baby."  
  
"Really?" Scully returned her Mom's smile.  
  
Maggie nodded and continued to stroke Samantha's hair. The three remained like that for several minutes, in completely peaceful silence, until a knock came at the door.  
  
"Come in," Scully called, careful not to disturb the sleeping Samantha.   
  
The door to the hospital room opened and in stepped a doctor; he was tall, perhaps in his middle forties, his auburn hair streaked with gray. Around his eyes and mouth were tiny wrinkles that made Scully think that, under normal circumstances, this man was in a generally good mood and very friendly...the look he portrayed now told her otherwise.   
  
"Ms. Scully?" He asked, looking at what she assumed was her chart, his voice sounded concerned.   
  
"Yes?" She somehow kept the fear from her voice as millions of worries flashed through her mind. *Oh God, Oh God, Oh God...what's wrong? Is it Samantha?* Concern showed on the doctor's face and a cold knot of fear formed in her stomach at the possibilities of what it could mean. "What is it, doctor? Is something wrong with the baby?"  
  
"Your baby?" He looked perplexed. A brief smile flashed across his face, but disappeared in an instant. "Oh no, nothing is wrong with your baby...she's perfectly healthy."   
  
"What is it, then?" Maggie suddenly piped in.  
  
The no-name doctor flipped through some pages on the chart and then looked squarely into Scully's face. "Several hours ago an unidentified man was found comatose on a gurney in our ER. He carried nothing except this I.D.," he handed the I.D. to Scully as he talked, "and an unsigned note saying that we were to contact an Agent Dana Scully, yourself, and notify you of his arrival..."  
  
The doctor was still speaking, but Scully couldn't hear him. She was too busy staring at the I.D. in her hands...it's shiny laminated picture of an attractive brown-haired man, the face and signature below it so familiar to her that she would recognize it anywhere. The I.D. that identified the wearer as special agent Fox Mulder of the FBI.   
  
"Mom," Scully said faintly, "Mom...take Samantha...please..." She could barely find words enough to speak, but her Mom unquestioningly did as her daughter asked.   
  
"Where is he?" She asked as she climbed from the hospital bed. She felt weak, but not even death could stop Dana Scully from finding her partner now.   
  
  
To Be Continued...  



	2. Choices- Part 2

Title: Choices- Part 2/?  
  
Author: Kimberly Warner  
  
E-Mail: KimbearlySue@aol.com  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Category: MSR  
  
Spoilers: Requiem, All Things, and anything in Season 8 is fair game.  
  
Summary: Scully has her baby and Mulder is returned to her, but what will the consequences be?   
  
Notes: I am yet another fic write who named Scully's baby Samantha. Perhaps I will change it in the future, but this is the baby's name, so don't complain! Please R&R- I really love feedback :)  
  
Disclaimer: All characters et. al. belong to Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. I am merely borrowing them for the time being.  
  
  
Choices- Continued...  
  
He was there, but even seeing him with her own eyes, Scully could barely believe it. Six months was such a long time and it showed on Mulder's face. Scully could hardly recognize her partner. His hair seemed dirty, tangled and had grown almost to his shoulders. His once clean face was now covered in a thick beard and dark shadows had formed under his eyes. He even appeared thinner than she remembered.  
  
It tore at her heart to see him this way. She stayed standing in the doorway to his room, almost afraid to move any closer. She waited, silently, watching the thin green line which followed his heartbeat, listening to the rhythmic beeping and cold whoosh-eeee sound emanating from the room. The man she once knew to be so strong and alive was now on life support, barely clinging to life.   
  
The doctor, whose name she learned was Peter Rankin, had told her that Mulder's prognosis was not good. Whatever had happened to him over those past six months, whoever had him, had wreaked havoc with his body. Externally, there was evidence of massive damage being inflicted on his body over a period of time. Multiple scars were found, including one long jagged scar running the length of his chest, which appeared to be the worst of all. There was also evidence of bones being broken and re-healed and other damage, which Dr. Rankin just could not explain. This, however, was not what was killing him. In all honesty, the doctor had told Scully, he should be awake right now, but something was still hurting him, and his system was slowly shutting down. I'm sorry, he had said, it looks like there is nothing we can do. I'm sorry.   
  
Rolling Dr. Rankin's words over and over in her mind, Scully slowly walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. She stepped slowly over to Mulder's still form, pulling her robe closer together. For a moment, a look of pain moved quickly over her features and then small tears welled up in her eyes. Quietly she thought back to the words she had written in her journal several weeks after Mulder's disappearance...  
  
*I never thought that missing you would hurt so bad, but when you left a terrible emptiness welled up in my soul, as if I was left to wander, looking for you, in a cold unending desert. My sorrow weighs down on my shoulders and at times it is the only the hope that I will someday find you that keeps me going day by day. My hope and my anger. I am so furious...so angry at those who took you, angry at myself for not realizing sooner that it was you they wanted, and angry at you...for loving me so much that you did not see either that it was you who needed to be protected, not me. Mulder, I should have been able to protect you for once.  
  
You have risked so much to save and protect me in the past- your life, your career, but this time you may have lost it all. And so have I, because I have realized that my love for you runs deeper than anything I have ever known; there is proof of that in the baby, this tiny miracle, which I now carry...*  
  
Scully reached out and grasped Mulder's pale hand. It was cold, but she held it tightly, rubbing her thumb across his palm.  
  
"It's really you..." She whispered, barely concealing her tears. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it gently, but he was unresponsive. Losing strength momentarily, she fell into a chair behind her. As if in some silent prayer she tilted her head back looking toward the ceiling, her eyes squeezed shut and her chin trembling, clutching Mulder's hand tightly, tears and emotions both threatening to overcome her. Why, after all the endless days and sleepless nights of dreaming for this very same moment would she have to lose her partner, her friend, her everything again when she had just gotten him back? He was stolen away from her once and she could do nothing, and now she was about to lose him again...forever. It did not seem fair.*It's not fair, damnit!* She wanted to cry out to anyone who would hear her.   
  
Scully's thoughts drifted to her daughter, still so new, with no knowledge at all of what sort of precious gift she was. She did not even know who her own father was. *And if Mulder dies, she will never get to know him...*the thought sent a pain straight through Scully's soul. She had to know, just as Mulder had to know about his daughter. Their daughter.  
  
It was so amazing. Only a year ago, Scully would never have imagined having a child. Let alone a child with Mulder. She had never even realized how much she loved him until that night, when everything changed.   
  
She had fallen asleep on Mulder's couch and when she awoke sometime later, it was almost three in the morning. At first she was confused, not remembering where she was and how she got there. And then bits and pieces of her and Mulder's previous night's conversation slowly came back to her.   
  
*What if there was only one choice and all the other ones were wrong? And there were signs along the way to pay attention to...*  
  
Maybe her life hadn't completely changed during those three days, but something inside her was different. She knew that she would never quite look at anything the same way again, but this did not bother her. Scully actually felt very peaceful, as if some part of her had finally found what it was searching for.   
  
Some time later she found herself standing in the doorway of Mulder's bedroom. His bedside lamp was still on and it appeared that he had fallen asleep while reading.--a book lay open across his chest and his glasses had slid crookedly down one side of his face as he slept. She watched him appreciatively for a moment before moving over to stand beside his bed. She reached down and picked up the book, laying it on the nightstand. He's dead to the world, she thought, amused, and then went to move the glasses from his face. She paused to admire his features, amazed at how relaxed he looked while sleeping.   
  
Suddenly, Mulder's eyes flew open as he awoke, tense for a moment until he realized who was there with him. "Geez, Scully, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing?" He took a deep breath and laughed.  
  
Feeling very awkward and strangely shaken at being caught, Scully lifted his glasses, a wry grin on her face. "I was just...I mean, you were sleeping, and--" *What in the world am I doing?! Why am I babbling like this?* She screamed silently. She shut up, then and breathed in deeply. A wonderful thought blossomed in her mind and she smiled.  
  
"I'm making a choice, Mulder," She said quietly. Then she kissed him.  
  
It had all been so simple at the time, but the results had been so wonderful and complicated. Scully never would have dared to imagine the consequences of her actions that night, but she did not regret them.   
  
Oddly enough, this bold step in their relationship had not put a wall between them as Scully had once feared it would. If anything, they had become even closer. They barely talked of that night between them in the weeks and months after, but they did not need to. Somehow they had been content in knowing that they loved each other, that they were best friends, that they were partners in every sense of the word.   
  
As these thoughts ran through her mind, Scully laid her head down near Mulder's chest and dozed while holding his hand.  
  
To Be Continued...  



End file.
